A Stunning Recovery
by ProfessorWannaBe
Summary: 1 - MM wakes up at St. Mungo's lucky to be alive after taking four stunners to the chest. 2 - Not yet fully recovered, she receives an emotional stunning at the news of Sirius Black's death. 3 - She is not so stunned at the sudden departure of Umbridge.
1. Part I

_Disclaimer: Of course, most of these characters and much of the story line belong to J.K. Rowling. I'm just having fun imagining what goes in the gaps of her marvelous saga._

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Minerva did not want to open her eyes. It was simply too much trouble. There were voices coming from the vicinity of her feet, a man and a woman discussing the staff from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. They were comforting, familiar voices that kept her from being overly concerned about the strangeness of her circumstances. She most definitely wasn't in her own bed.

There seemed to be a heavy weight on her chest and breathing was difficult. She was glad for the voices that kept her calm so that the inhaling and exhaling could be done slowly. Her head ached like nothing she'd ever felt before. The rest of her body was sore as well. How had she gotten herself banged up this badly?

She listened closely to the voices merely hoping to identify who was talking rather than trying to force her mind to recall what had caused all her pain.

"How long will she have to be here?" the man inquired.

"Minerva isn't exactly the youngest witch here, you know. Healing will take time. Rest and a break from all the stress going on at Hogwarts is what she needs. Aurors arresting teachers in the dead of night, honestly!"

"Poppy, you know she isn't going to rest while that woman is running things at Hogwarts."

"I suppose not but she'll be staying here several days if I have any say in the matter. Healer Derwent was the supervisor for my training and has come to respect my opinion. That's why I brought Minerva here to recover. She'll get excellent care without interruption from that idiot High Inquisitor."

The conversation she'd just overheard not only helped Minerva to discern who was discussing her recovery but also triggered a flood of remembrance. Anger and indignation quickly followed causing her to take a less than judicious breathe. She groaned, opening her eyes to see Poppy Pomfrey and Albus Dumbledore coming up either side of her bed.

"Where's Hagrid? Did they get him? Is he okay?" she questioned rapid-fire while gingerly pushing herself up against the headboard of what was obviously a hospital bed.

Her voice sounded gravelly and strained. Minerva saw Poppy snatch up a pitcher from the bedside table and pour out a glass of water while Albus moved close enough to wrap a warm hand around her own cold one. Had she not been feeling frantic over the outcome of the fiasco that had landed her here, she would have been grateful for the soothing gesture.

"I'm so glad to see you awake," Albus said with a delighted smile.

"Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore," she continued after taking a sip from the glass Poppy had handed her. "Tell me what happened to Hagrid!"

"Hagrid's fine, Minerva. He found me right away. He came to no harm." His face turned solemn. "You, on the other hand, gave us quite a scare."

"I'd best be getting back to the school," Poppy interjected. "The students are probably up and about by now. _Her_, too."

There was no need to discuss to which "_her_" Poppy referred. The word fairly dripped with derision. It was Delores Umbridge's fault that Minerva was laying here on the fourth floor of St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. _She_ had been interfering all year with the instruction at Hogwarts. _She_ made a mockery of teaching, routinely belittled students, and hadhumiliated Sybil Trelawny just because _she_ could. _She_ had forced Dumbledore to take the blame away from Harry and flee Hogwarts, leaving the students without their greatest protector. _She_ had brought four Aurors to the school to capture Hagrid, and Minerva couldn't let _her_ get away with that!

Four stunning spells at once had caught Minerva in mid-rant as she'd raced to Hagrid's defense Wednesday night. It was unbelievable that she'd survived such an attack. The distance from which they had cast their spells was probably the only reason she was still drawing breath, painful though it was. Hagrid had actually been doing quite well on his own and had managed to get away without her aid after all.

"I'll let Healer Derwent know that you are awake on my way out," Poppy concluded.

"Thank you for letting me know, Poppy, and for delivering my messages," the Headmaster responded.

Poppy slipped out the door at the far end of the ward that Minerva was occupying all alone. There were five other empty beds. A weak light was coming in through the windows set close to the ceiling to indicate that it was not much past daybreak.

"You shouldn't be here, Albus."

"Healer Derwent happens to believe me over the Ministry and has guaranteed the privacy of this ward. She's the only one who has been in here besides me and Poppy. I'll go as soon as she confirms Poppy's prognosis for your full recovery."

Silence fell between them but it suited Minerva's aching head. He still held her hand which was also a comfort. Knowing that Hagrid was safe, relaxed the tension in her body and she began to sink into the pillow. The entrance of Healer Derwent came just in time to keep her from falling asleep in the awkward sitting position she'd managed earlier.

While Albus sat at the opposite end of the ward, the wizened Healer erected a screen around Minerva's bed and examined the contusions on her chest. Several charms were administered to ease the pain that had been escalating since she had awakened. A potion was left for her to drink as soon as her breakfast was brought up.

"Poppy is right as always. You'll be mending just fine as long as you get enough rest. The potion will make certain you do exactly that today," the Healer commented cheerfully as she removed the screen and motioned for Albus to rejoin them.

"I'll be back when the potion wears off to be sure that there aren't any complications with the mending of those ribs. It will probably be another day or two beyond that before we can let you go," the white-haired witch informed Minerva. Looking between her patient and Albus, she continued with a twinkle in her eye, "We have to go slow with broken ribs, you see. Keeping them completely still while they heal is impossible, unless you're already dead. Not much point in healing the bones then, of course."

Healer Derwent's soft chuckle at her own morbid joke echoed through the empty ward as she crossed it. "Even so, I expect you'll be in your own bed before the weekend is through," she concluded happily as she reached the door.

As soon as the Healer had left them alone in the ward, Albus took up Minerva's hand once more as he settled in the chair at her side. Neither of them spoke for some time. She was feeling quite comfortable with his nearness now that her injuries had been tended and the soreness smoothed away. If only she could take the potion now and fall asleep while he held her hand.

A flash of fire startled Minerva from her near stupor. It was only Fawkes. Albus cleared his throat and dropped her hand as the scarlet phoenix settled on the foot of the bed.

"I must go now so you can have your breakfast, take your potion and get a full day's rest."

"Albus, who is going to watch over the students?" Minerva asked nervously. She felt very guilty for lying here in bed sleeping when the castle was under that…that…that_ woman's_ supervision. Delores Umbridge was a menace to Hogwarts as far as Minerva was concerned. It was a close call as to which was worse, the basilisk that had terrorized the school a few years ago or this farce of a teacher sent by a Ministry intent on the vilification of Albus Dumbledore.

"We aren't the only ones who care for the students, Minerva. They will be fine for a few days. The term is all but over. You'll be there to see them off and we have the holidays to straighten out the rest. I'll be back if I can but I hope to find you sleeping."

"Be careful, Albus."

"I will be," he replied as he took hold of Fawkes' tail and in a fiery burst they were both gone.

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A/N: It's great to have a friend with a fresh eye to point out ways to make a story better. I'm blessed to have two such friends: Skool at BewitchedMind and ZHeRoTaN at The Sugar Quill (and in real life). Thanks for your encouragement and good advice. 


	2. Part II

It was difficult for Minerva to keep track of the passage of time during her recovery. Each time she returned to consciousness it seemed as if she had only just fallen asleep. The varying daylight (or lack thereof) and the rearrangement of items on the bedside table were her only clues that time was indeed passing.

By the time Minerva had gathered her bearings upon waking, Healer Derwent would be entering the ward bringing yet another potion. It would be a tortuous trip to the loo, soothing charms as the Healer inspected the ribs, a bite to eat then off to oblivion once more. How many times this was repeated remained a mystery.

Minerva did have a chance to admire the large arrangement of flowers that had appeared at her bedside during the first of these islands of consciousness. All of the staff at Hogwarts had signed the card except for Umbridge and Filch – not a surprise. Later, a smaller vase had joined the other with a note from Arthur and Molly Weasley. A tin of ginger snaps from Kingsley Shacklebolt and the latest issue of _Transfiguration Today_ had shown up somewhere along the way as well.

Physical improvement finally became noticeable on what might have been the second day. The big news was that she could make her own way to the loo with the assistance of a walking stick. Upon her next awakening, Minerva saw that a tartan carpetbag had appeared on the chair beside her bed which contained her nightgown, dressing gown and slippers. It was the first time that Healer Derwent hadn't shown up right away.

Taking that as a good sign, Minerva carried the fresh clothes with her on a solo trip down the hall passing a now-occupied – but screened – bed in the opposite corner of the ward. Another patient on the ward ruled out the possibility of a visit from Albus which was disappointing.

She managed a brief shower hoping that the hot water would aid in the relaxation of the abused muscles in her back and extremities. The effort so exhausted her, however, she fell back to sleep immediately upon returning to her bed still wearing the dressing gown and slippers.

"Professor … Minerva," someone was shaking her from her natural slumber and it didn't seem fair. "Please Professor, wake up. You will have a terrible pain in your neck if you don't slide up onto your pillow."

Minerva reluctantly complied because she could tell the speaker was right. Her neck was already feeling kinked. It was Molly Weasley whose voice had been laced with such deep concern. It was also etched in her face now that Minerva had opened her eyes. There was something else as well but she did not think she could stay awake long enough to find out what it was.

Molly fussed over Minerva for a few minutes without any of the expected protest from the patient. Once settled, sleep claimed Minerva shortly after Molly had taken the chair beside the bed beginning to knit. The soft click of the needles sang a lullaby that was hardly needed given Minerva's exhaustion.

When consciousness returned once again, Minerva felt truly rested. A bright sun was spilling its cheerful rays onto the foot of her bed giving her the impression that it was late morning. There was a minor commotion going on at the only other occupied bed. Healer Derwent could be heard shushing an uncooperative patient. The wry smile that had been making its way to Minerva's face faded away before it could be full-born when the patient's voice became loud enough to be recognizable.

"I don't need any more of your potions. I've been sleeping for who knows how long and there's no one to tell me what happened to Harry!"

Adrenaline shot through Minerva in a flash. She sat up a bit too hastily bringing a stab of pain to the right side of her chest. She willed her breathing to slow as she eased herself off of the bed reaching for the walking stick.

"Nymphadora Tonks, what are you doing here and what about Harry?" Minerva demanded as she made her way up the aisle between the rows of vacant beds.

The outburst brought Healer Derwent's head poking out from behind the screen, quickly followed by the woman herself.

"Please, professor. Don't get yourself worked up. You're making excellent progress that we don't want to have undone by emotional stress."

"Well, it's too late. I'm stressed by lack of information," Minerva countered as she stepped around the startled Healer headed for Tonks' bedside.

"If you puncture a lung with a re-broken rib you will still lack the information you _so desperately need_ and you'll be stuck taking my potions for weeks. It's my understanding that it is curiosity that kills cats," she added with an unpleasant gleam in the eyes that fell directly on Minerva.

After a long pause during which neither woman broke the eye contact, the Healer relented.

"Fine, you have five minutes."

As she stalked to the ward door, her mutterings included "obstinate", "most difficult patient" and "stubborn" which echoed back to Minerva and the young woman beside her.

"Professor, I wish I knew what to tell you about Harry. We were at headquarters on Thursday evening about to have dinner when Sn…," she hesitated and her eyes darted around what she could see of the ward. "Our informant, that is, contacted us about Harry having one of those dreams. This time Padfoot was being tortured in the Department of Mysteries. We were expecting Professor Dumbledore and planned to tell him as soon as he arrived but the informant made contact again to say that Harry had gone into the Forbidden Forest with Umbridge and hadn't returned. We set out for the DoM fearing a trap for Harry while the Forest was being searched by our friend."

"Who went to the Department of Mysteries?" Minerva asked. "There's no one here to eavesdrop."

"Shacklebolt, Moody, Lupin, Black and myself."

"You didn't wait for Dumbledore?"

"No, Sirius told Kreacher to tell him where we had gone then we lit out of there."

"Did you find Harry?" Minerva asked with an almost undetectable tremor in her voice.

"Yes, we found him all right. He and Neville were surrounded by ten Death Eaters. They weren't doing too badly considering they haven't even passed their O.W.L.s yet. They'd been putting up quite a fight to judge by all the damage we saw on our way in."

"Neville was there!" Minerva exclaimed. "Let me guess, Miss Granger and Ron Weasley were there too."

"I suppose but I only saw Neville and Harry . . . and all those Death Eaters." Tonks gave an involuntary shudder.

Minerva corralled her impatience to give Tonks a moment to recover her breath. It was apparent that she also had cracked ribs and needed to tell her story more slowly. Minerva needed to slow her own breathing to deal with the increasing pain in her chest. Healer Derwent was going to be furious if the rib had been re-damaged.

Finally, Tonks spoke again. "I fell, Professor," she said quietly in a voice filled with anguish. "If Harry died, it will be my fault because I'm so clumsy that I can't even fight one Death Eater," she added in a strangled tone and a tear sliding down her cheek.

Minerva took the young woman's hand then patted it, carefully considering what to say. She needed comfort but, if Harry had indeed been killed (or worse), she would need strength to face life with a guilt that was not entirely her own. Finding the balance between honesty and kindness was not always easy.

Before she could formulate a proper response, however, the ward door opened and closed. Minerva stood up with a twinge from her chest and stepped to the edge of the screen. She saw that Healer Derwent had returned bearing another potion and was being followed by Molly Weasley. The frown on the healer's face and the worry on Molly's gave Minerva the premonition that bad news was on its way.

"Come, Minerva," the healer ordered. "Looks like you did yourself some damage," she continued in an "I told you so" tone of voice gesturing to Minerva's right arm. It was only then that Minerva realized that she had clamped her right elbow into her ribs and was holding it tightly in place with her left hand. The shallowness of her breath was a second clue to the additional injury.

"Let's see how bad it is," Derwent added as she steered Minerva toward her own bed. "Then Molly will answer the questions that turned you two into the day's worst patients."

Minerva cooperated as best she could so that the healer would be placated and finish her ministrations as quickly as possible. The examination seemed to take far longer than was truly necessary and Minerva wondered if the healer found satisfaction in drawing out the suspense. Finally, the screen around the bed was removed and the prognosis was announced.

"How you managed to stress only one of the freshly healed ribs is a miracle," the healer said with a shake of her head. "I think it will be just fine with a bit more motionless sleep today. You can probably go back to Hogwarts in the morning if you'll be more careful about popping out of bed in a tizzy."

As Healer Derwent removed the screen, Molly brought over the walking stick that Minerva had left at Tonks' bedside. Brunch had arrived during the examination and Tonks was disconsolately picking at the food, probably bullied into it by Molly.

"Molly, I'm putting you in charge of making sure these two incorrigible patients actually take their potions once they've had their curiosity satisfied and eaten everything on those trays. I'll be back in thirty minutes and expect to find two sleeping patients."

The aged healer marched out of the ward with the air of one expecting to be obeyed.

Minerva gingerly sat up on the edge of her bed and accepted Molly's assistance to stand. She made her way slowly across the ward to resume her seat beside Tonks' bed. Molly had followed carrying the tray and set it on Minerva's lap before sitting on the edge of the bed beside Tonks'.

"I'm sure the first thing you want to know is that Harry is all right," Molly began. "Well, not _all_ right but . . . uninjured."

The qualification and the tears welling up in Molly's eyes put a quick end to the relief Minerva had felt with the first of her words. Her premonition had been right, there was bad news coming. She was suddenly exhausted and wondered if she could stand to hear it.

"I guess I'd better begin at the beginning as Dumbledore told me. First of all, Harry has continued to have dreams about the Department of Mysteries and just wasn't telling anyone. On Thursday afternoon, he fell asleep during his History of Magic O.W.L.s and had another one where he saw Sirius being tortured in the Prophecy Room."

Molly paused then looked up from her hands directly at Minerva. "I'm sorry Professor, but he went looking for you. When he didn't find you, he concocted a scheme to use Umbridge's fire to contact Order headquarters." She returned to the inspection of her hands then continued. "Ron and Ginny, Hermione and Neville and the Lovegood girl tried to help him. They all got caught. Harry had only talked to Kreacher who lied to him about Sirius' whereabouts.

"He was frantic, of course, but had enough sense to pass a message to Snape when Umbridge had called him to bring her more Veritaserum." Molly became indignant and addressed both patients directly, "Can you imagine, giving students Veritaserum! I'm sure that violates any number of Ministry regulations."

Molly subsided and returned to her tortured recitation.

"They tricked Umbridge into taking them into the Forest claiming that they knew where Dumbledore was hiding a weapon he planned to use against the Ministry. The centaurs got her and the children just barely escaped. They flew on thestrals all the way to London and actually got to the prophecy where they were ambushed by Death Eaters.

"Hermione took the worst of it with an unknown curse that gave her some internal injuries. Ron ended up wrapped in brains that burned him pretty badly. Poppy has them both in the hospital wing and expects them to be fully healed before the term ends. Ginny had a broken ankle and Neville a broken nose both of which are good as new already. Harry and Luna had only bumps and bruises."

There was another long pause in Molly's tale. Minerva could see the tears that could no longer be contained running down Molly's cheek. The time had come to hear the bad news. At least it wasn't about one of the children.

"Tonks was the only Order member injured." Molly began to sob openly and just barely managed to deliver the dreaded news, "but Sirius fell through the veil. There wasn't anything that anyone could do."

A/N: Thanks again to Skool and ZHeRoTaN for your making this better than it used to be.


	3. Part III

Minerva stepped off of the Knight Bus and looked up at the winged boars that topped the gates leading to Hogwarts. The day was warm and sunny; there would be students all over the grounds to watch her hobble up the drive. She had taken only a few steps when she saw that a carriage was coming toward her. Hagrid was obviously going to save her the embarrassment of having to make her way up the drive with such an audience.

The ride would also help her keep the promise she had made to Healer Derwent to take it slow and easy for a few days. There would be lots of paperwork to be done having missed the last two days of classes. Dumbledore told her that the professors had taken turns proctoring the exams that had been planned for those days which left her four days behind in marking them. Sitting at her desk for hours on end would surely satisfy the healer.

There were, indeed, a fair number of students out on the grounds. Through the carriage window, Minerva caught sight of figures flying over the Quidditch pitch, groups—both large and small—sitting under trees and beside the lake, there were even a couple of students swimming in the lake alongside the giant squid. They were all clearly enjoying the relief of completed exams and the pleasant weather.

Minerva kept an eye out for one particular student as the carriage swept up the drive. Harry Potter, however, was no where to be seen. He was probably sitting with his friends in the Hospital Wing. She wondered if he would allow them to comfort him or would he succumb to morose speculations now that he knew the prophecy. She would need to be especially observant these last few days of term to give Dumbledore a warning if he showed signs of the latter.

Alighting from the carriage at the foot of the stone stairs, Minerva took a judiciously deep breath and let it out with a smile. The day was gorgeous, there was no more pain in her chest and she was home. A shadow crossed her face as she considered the fate of Sirius Black who would no longer enjoy any of those things and the young man left behind with a fate that seemed no kinder. With another careful breath, she began to ascend to the Entrance Hall not quite as happily as she had descended the steps from the Knight Bus.

The wide open front doors to the castle allowed Minerva to overhear a conversation taking place in the Entrance Hall. The muffled voices became more distinct with every step she took until she plainly heard Severus Snape use his most gloating tone of voice in reply.

"Ah. I see there are no longer any points left in the Gryffindor hour-glass to take away." A surge of indignation added speed to Minerva's ascent so that she reached the doors before Severus could get much further in the badgering of one of her own students. "In that case, Potter, we will simply have to –"

"Add some more?" she interrupted. Of all the students he could have been harassing, it had to be the one who had far more weighty problems to be contemplating than losing house points or serving detentions. She quite often bit her tongue when Severus was pestering students but today she simply could not allow it.

"Professor McGonagall!" Severus exclaimed as he came toward her. Very few people would have noticed the change in his countenance that was the closest he ever came to smiling. She knew that he would be glad that she was recovered but he would never say so especially in front of the three Slytherin students who completed the entourage in the Hall.

"Out of St. Mungo's, I see!" Severus continued in his mock-derisive tone (the one the fooled everyone but Minerva) once he had stopped himself from taking the carpetbag from her.

"Yes, Professor Snape. I'm quite as good as new." Minerva replied while removing her traveling cloak. "You two—Crabbe—Goyle—"

The two brutish boys hesitated until she beckoned them with the most severe look she could manage and still refrain from rolling her eyes at their thick wits. They finally stumbled forward and she handed them her carpetbag and cloak, respectively.

"Here take these up to my office for me."

Their departure made this confrontation a bit fairer. In fact, it tipped the scales in Harry's favor which suited Minerva just fine.

"Right then. Well, I think Potter and his friends ought to have fifty points apiece for alerting the world to the return of You-Know-Who! What say you, Professor Snape?"

"What?" Severus snapped.

Minerva loved to surprise him with a little favoritism of her own.

"Oh—well—I suppose…"

Without even letting him finish agreeing with her, Minerva went right ahead and did just that. It was immensely satisfying to watch 250 rubies cascade into the Gryffindor hourglass. But she wasn't finished just yet.

"Oh—and fifty points for Miss Lovegood, I suppose," she went on and saw the corresponding sapphires drop into Ravenclaw's glass.

"Now," _just to show you how big I can be about it_, she thought to herself but only said, "you wanted to take ten from Mr. Potter, I think, Professor Snape—so there we are…" and a few of those newly arrived rubies returned to their former residence.

Minerva could not maintain her composure if she continued to look at Severus' face. He was nearly in a fit. He'd been thwarted in his harassment of Potter, had his lead for the House Cup severely curtailed and been shown up in front of students all in the matter of a few moments. From experience, she knew he would never say a word to her about it either, he would just stew—and he deserved it today.

Turning to the boys who were still frozen in surprise at her appearance and her actions, she ordered them outdoors in the glorious sunshine. Potter was the first to react by putting away his wand and heading straight for the front doors. She would have to find out what he'd been doing with it out in the first place but that was for later.

Malfoy, however, did not obey. Instead, he turned to Severus with a pleading look. Severus jerked his chin in the direction of the stairs leading to the dungeon entrance to the Slytherin rooms and Malfoy quickly followed the gesture carefully avoiding Minerva's gaze.

_Oh well, best I could do_, Minerva thought and moved toward the marble stairs.

With her hand on the banister and her left foot on the first step, Minerva called over her shoulder, "You could use some sunshine too, Severus."

The smile and quiet chuckle could not be contained when she heard the swish of his cloak as he stalked back in the direction of his office while she continued up the stairs.

Days of grading exams and the usual end-of-term paperwork had given Minerva sore shoulders but she was happily without pain in her chest. She carried her walking stick only because she had promised Healer Derwent that she would use it for at least a week. In actuality, she hadn't needed it at all except for the one afternoon when she tried to check on Harry by visiting the Gryffindor common room. She had been so winded by the climb to the seventh floor that she hadn't the energy to search for him at the edge of the lake where Miss Weasley had suggested he might be.

She had just reached the stairs on her way to dinner when Peeves, the Poltergeist, zoomed out of a classroom cackling and swinging a sock that appeared to be filled with chalk.

"Sneaky, sneaky but I got a peaky," he was chanting to himself until he saw the Deputy Headmistress and Transfiguration Professor between him and the stairs.

"What do you think you are doing?" Minerva asked in the severe tone she had to take with Peeves, not to mention some recalcitrant students.

The weighted sock was behind his back in a flash as he tried to edge along the wall past Minerva. She quickly stepped closer and pulled out her wand. The action had the desired effect.

"It is nothing, O gracious professor. Nastiness is leaving the castle in secret. I only wish to offer a proper salute. Teachers like chalk."

It took a moment for Minerva to decipher Peeves' rambling while keeping herself between the poltergeist and the stairs. He had been trying to sidle past her on the other side during his cryptic speech.

"Umbridge."

"He he," Peeves sniggered and turned a somersault that made the clatter of the chalk echo off the high ceiling.

"Perhaps she is in greater need of this walking stick than I am," Minerva offered sweetly, handing it up to him and stepping aside so that he could pass.

It was no great chore to make the rest of the trip to the Great Hall without the aid of the walking stick. In fact, it made an excellent excuse to refrain from shooing students out of the Entrance Hall or intercepting Peeves. The former were cheerfully watching the latter chase Delores Umbridge down the carriage way using both walking stick and a sock full of chalk as encouragement for her hasty departure. Minerva's only regret was in not being able to join the happy throng.

A/N: Skool and ZHeRoTaN deserve my thanks once again for their keen eye and wise insight.


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